Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

The circuit was the second purpose-built road race course in Canada after Westwood Motorsport Park in Coquitlam, British Columbia,^[3] succeeding Edenvale (Stayner, Ontario), Port Albert, Ontario's Green Acres (ex-British Commonwealth Air Training Plan), and Nanticoke, Ontario's Harewood Acres (ex-British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Number One Bombing and Gunnery School), all airport circuits, as Ontario racing venues.

The track was designed and built in the late 1950s. The first race to be held on the track was a local event organized by the Oakville Light Car Club in June 1961.^[4] Shortly thereafter, on June 25, the venue held its first major race, the Player's 200, a sports car race bringing drivers from the world over to rural Ontario. Stirling Moss won the two-heat event in a Lotus 19. Second was Joakim Bonnier with Olivier Gendebien third.^[5] The proposed hairpin was expanded into two discrete corners, to be of greater challenge to the drivers and more interesting for the spectators, at his suggestion, and is named Moss Corner in his honour. This is a source of lingering confusion as many people call the track Mossport. Unlike many historic motorsport venues, Mosport's track layout has remained mostly unchanged from its original form.

For 2001, the entire circuit was repaved to meet FIA specifications, and is now 13 m (42 ft) wide. Drivers were consulted to ensure the character of the "old" track was kept; almost all the "racing lines" have been maintained.

Mosport achieved acclaim through a series of international sports car races under the title "Canadian Grand Prix" normally reserved for Formula 1 races. Many events were wildly popular, breaking Canadian sports attendance records with each successive race. The success of these races led Mosport to be seen as a key component in the founding of the Can Am Series.

The Can-Am first visited the track in its inaugural season in 1966, and Mosport hosted at least one event in every year of the series' history, except 1968. In 1967, Canada's centennial year, Mosport hosted Formula One, USAC, and a 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix. F1's Grand Prix of Canada remained at the track until 1977, until it was moved to Montreal. Mosport has hosted a wide variety of series throughout its history. The circuit has held Formula One, USAC, World Sportscar Championship, Can-Am, Formula 5000, and many other sports car, open-wheel, and motorcycle series.

Mosport has had several fatalities, both track crew, drivers, and riders, the most recognized being German Formula One driver Manfred Winkelhock who was killed in 1985 when his Porsche 962C crashed into a concrete wall. [1] Another fatality at the track was in 2008 during the 29th annual Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada Racing Festival. Driver Dino Crescentini of Rochester Hills, MI – a ten-year veteran of vintage racing – lost control of his 1977 Wolf Dallara Can-Am car, which previously had been driven by Gilles Villeneuve. The most recent fatality was in 2018 when 61 year old former Pro Mazda driver Jeff Green speared off the racetrack at turn 8, and slammed into the barrier. He was attended to quickly but was unable to survive the crash.

Mosport has had a succession of owners since the original public company created to build the track. Two of those prior owners, Norm Namerow (who owned the track through his publishing company, CanTrack, until his death) and Harvey Hudes, have both been inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame for their contribution to the sport in Canada. In 1998, Panoz Motorsports purchased the facility, and in 1999, the newly formed American Le Mans Series visited Mosport for the first time.

Canadian Motorsports Ventures Ltd. (CMV) which includes Orlando Corp. Chairman Carlo Fidani and Canadian road racing driver Ron Fellows, purchased the facility in June 2011.^[6]

In February 2012, a partnership between Mosport and Canadian Tire was announced. The partnership includes a renaming of the track to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.^[7]

In the spring of 2000, Mosport opened the Driver Development Centre, a second 1.7-kilometre (1.1 mi), 12 turn training circuit designed for driver development. The new course was designed by the owners and instructors of the Bridgestone Racing Academy and was designed specifically with fewer guard rails, walls and minimum blind corners to meet the needs of their driver and mechanic training program.^[8][9]

Due to significant scheduling demands on the original Grand Prix circuit, the original academy course was reconstructed and lengthened to a full racing course in the fall of 2013. The new track features two configuration options; a 2.2 km (1.4 mi) intermediate course, a 2.9 km (1.8 mi) advanced course, as well as a skid pad, a pit lane, and a multi-storey event centre with classrooms and other facilities.^[10]

Prior to the Driver Development Centre, Mosport was home to the Bridgestone Racing Academy from 2000 to 2019, which conducted corporate programs, racing schools, and a Mechanics Training Program. The academy itself was originally established at Shannonville Motorsport Park, when owners Charlie and Brett Goodman acquired the cars and equipment of the former Spenard-David Racing School and teamed with then-Bridgestone/Firestone Canada Inc.

Mosport Speedway was a 0.80-kilometre (1⁄2 mi) oval speedway located on the northwest corner of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The track featured 240-metre-long (800 ft) straightaways, 6-degree banked corners and two grandstands with seating for 8,500.

The oval was constructed in 1989 as a dirt track originally called Mosport's Ascot North, named after the famous Ascot Park track in Gardena, California. The first event was scheduled in July 1989 and was to feature USAC Midgets and Sprint Cars and the World of Outlaws. The races were cancelled after the initial heat races caused deep ruts in the corners and dislodging stones hidden under the clay.^[11]

The track was paved that summer and renamed Mosport International Speedway. The track hosted a weekly Saturday night stock car racing program from May to September for 24 years. The stock car divisions included pure stock, sportsman and late models. The oval also featured regular touring series including the ACT Series, ISMA Supermodifieds, OSCAAR, Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup, CASCAR Super Series and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.^[12]

The park announced the closing of the oval in July 2013 to accommodate the expansion of the Driver Development Centre.^[13]

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship edit

It was announced in September 2013 that Canadian Tire Motorsports Park was chosen to host an annual round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship beginning in 2014.^[14] The new series replaced the American Le Mans Series as the feature race during the tracks annual SportsCar Grand Prix, which is Canada's largest annual sportscar race.^[15]

NASCAR Pinty's Series edit

The NASCAR Pinty's Series has visited the facility at least twice annually every year since its inaugural season in 2007. Currently the race is known as the Clarington 200 and takes place during the tracks Victoria Day SpeedFest Weekend and its Chevrolet Silverado 250 weekend.

Current edit

• May: NASCAR Canada Series Victoria Day SpeedFest, Sports Car Championship Canada, Radical Cup Canada
• June: VARAC Vintage Grand Prix^[16]
• July: IMSA SportsCar Championship Chevrolet Grand Prix, Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Mazda MX-5 Cup
• August: Canadian Superbike Championship
• September: Trans-Am Series Mosport Trans-Am, Formula Regional Americas Championship, Formula 4 United States Championship, NASCAR Canada Series CTMP Labour Day Weekend Sprint, Sports Car Championship Canada, Radical Cup Canada

Former edit

• American Le Mans Series
  • Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix (1999–2013)
• ASA National Tour (1992)
• Atlantic Championship (1974–1977, 1979, 1981–1983, 1987–1989, 1992–1994, 2009)
• Can-Am
  • Mosport Can-Am (1966–1967, 1969–1974, 1977–1986)
• Canadian Sports Car Championship (1961–1968)
• CASCAR Super Series (1991–1992, 1996, 1998–2006)
• Formula 750 (1977–1979)
• Formula BMW Americas (2006–2007, 2009)
• Formula One
  • Canadian Grand Prix (1961–1967, 1969, 1971–1974, 1976–1977)
• Grand Prix motorcycle racing
  • Canadian motorcycle Grand Prix (1967)
• GT World Challenge America (1990–1997, 1999–2012, 2014–2019)
• IMSA GT Championship
  • Mosport Festival (1975, 1980–1983, 1989–1992, 1995–1998)
• Molson Diamond Indy (1967-1968, 1977-1978)^[17]
• Motocross World Championship (1976–1977, 1979)
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
  • Chevrolet Silverado 250 (2013–2019)
• SCCA Formula 5000 Championship (1968–1970, 1974–1976)
• Superbike World Championship (1989–1991)
• USAC IndyCar
  • Molson Diamond Indy (1967–1968, 1977–1978)
• USAC Stock Car (1962, 1966–1968, 1978)
• World Sportscar Championship (1976–1977, 1980–1981, 1984–1985)

The track also hosts vintage racing series, motorcycle racing, and Canadian Automobile Sport Club (CASC) amateur events and lapping days.

• 
  A line of Formula Ford cars climb the hill through turn 5(c)
• 
  Turn 8 heading into The Esses
• 
  Entry into Clayton Corner - Turn 2
• 
  Outside of Turn 3
• 
  Event Centre
• 
  Track infield set up for a concert - Boots and Hearts Music Festival

The unofficial fastest ever recorded lap was taken by Rinaldo Capello, in an Audi R10 TDI, in qualifying for the 2008 Grand Prix of Mosport, with a time of 1:04.094. The official lap record was set in the race for that meeting with Capello's Audi Sport North America teammate Marco Werner lapping in a time of 1:05.823.^[18]

As of May 2024, the fastest official race lap records at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport Park) for different classes are listed as:

FIA Formula One World Championship edit

Year	Race	Driver	Constructor	Report
1967	Player's Canadian Grand Prix	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	Report
1969		Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Ford	Report
1971		Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
1972	Labatt's Canadian Grand Prix	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
1973		Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	Report
1974		Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	Report
1976		James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	Report
1977		Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	Report

FIA World Sportscar Championship edit

Year	Race	Drivers	Team	Car	Distance/Duration
1976	Player's 200 Weekend	Jackie Oliver	Shadow	Shadow DN4 Chevrolet	320 km (200 mi)
1977	Molson Diamond Can-Am Trans-Am Weekend	Ludwig Heimrath Paul Miller	Heimrath Racing	Porsche 934/5	6 hours
1980	Molson Canadian 1000	John Fitzpatrick Brian Redman	Dick Barbour Racing/Sachs USA	Porsche 935 K3/80	6 hours
1981	Molson 1000	Harald Grohs Rolf Stommelen	Andial Meister Racing	Porsche 935 K3	6 hours
1984	Budweiser GT	Jacky Ickx Jochen Mass	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 956	1,000 km (620 mi)
1985	Budweiser GT	Hans-Joachim Stuck Derek Bell	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 962C	1,000 km (620 mi)

USAC Championship Car (IndyCar) edit

Year	Race	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine
1967	Telegram Trophy 200	Bobby Unser	Leader Cards Racing	Eagle	Ford
1968	Telegram Trophy 200	Dan Gurney	Oscar Olson	Eagle	Weslake-Ford
1977	Molson Diamond Indy	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Coyote	Foyt
1978	Molson Diamond Indy	Danny Ongais	Interscope Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth

FIM Road Racing World Championship edit

Year	Race	125 cc		250 cc		500 cc		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1967	Canadian motorcycle Grand Prix	Bill Ivy	Yamaha	Mike Hailwood	Honda	Mike Hailwood	Honda	Report

FIM Formula 750 World Championship edit

Year	Race	Winning Rider	Manufacturer
1977	Molson Diamond Motorcycle Grand Prix of Canada	Gregg Hansford	Kawasaki
1978		Michael Baldwin	Yamaha
1979		Patrick Pons	Yamaha

FIM World Superbike Championship edit

Year		Race	Date	Winning Rider	Winning Team
1989	Race 1	Rothman's Superbike	June 4	Fred Merkel	Team Rumi RCM
	Race 2			Giancarlo Falappa	Bimota SpA
1990	Race 1	Bud Superbike	June 3	Raymond Roche	Squadra Corse Ducati Lucchinelli
	Race 2			Raymond Roche	Squadra Corse Ducati Lucchinelli
1991	Race 1		June 2	Pascal Picotte	Fast Yamaha/Sunoco
	Race 2			Tom Kipp	Wiseco Piston Yamaha

FIM Motocross World Championship edit

Year	Class	Driver	Manufacturer
1976	500cc	Gerrit Wolsink	Suzuki
1977	125cc	André Massant	Yamaha
1979	500cc	Gerrit Wolsink	Suzuki

American Le Mans Series edit

IMSA GT Championship edit

SCCA Trans-Am Series edit

Canadian Sports Car Championship edit

Year	Date	Race	Driver	Team	Car
1961	June 10	BEMC Trophy	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Eglinton Caledonia Motors	Porsche 718 RS 60
	June 24	Player's 200	Stirling Moss	United Dominions Corp.	Lotus 19 Monte Carlo Climax
	Aug 5	Grand Valley Car Club Trophy	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Eglinton Caledonia Motors	Porsche 718 RS 60
	Sep 9	BEMC Indian Summer Trophy	Harry Entwistle	Hamilton Racing Partnership	Lotus 15 Climax
	Sep 30	Canadian Grand Prix	Peter Ryan	Comstock Racing Team	Lotus 19 Monte Carlo Climax
1962	June 9	Player's 200	Masten Gregory	United Dominions-Laystall	Lotus 19 Climax
	Sep 8	BEMC Indian Summer Races	John Cannon		Dailu Bardahl Special
	Sep 22	Canadian Grand Prix	Masten Gregory	U.D.T./Laystall	Lotus 19 Climax
1963	18 May	BEMC Spring Trophy Races	John Cannon		Dailu Mk II Ford
	June 1	Player's 200	Chuck Daigh	Arciero Bros. Racing Team	Lotus 19 Climax
	June 16	Grand National Races	Dennis Coad	Whiz Car Care Products	Lotus 19 Climax
	Sep 28	Canadian Grand Prix	Pedro Rodriguez	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 P
1964	June 6	Player's 200 – Race No. 1	Bruce McLaren	Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd.	Zerex Special Oldsmobile Traco V8
	June 6	Player's 200 – Race No. 2	Bruce McLaren	Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd.	Zerex Special Oldsmobile Traco V8
	June 21	Spring Trophy Races	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Canadian Comstock Ltd.	Cooper Monaco T61 Ford
	Sep 27	Canadian Grand Prix	Pedro Rodriguez	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 330 P
1965	June 6	Player's 200	John Surtees	Team Surtees	Lola T70 Mk 2 Chevrolet V8
	June 19	Spring Trophy Race	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Heimrath Racing/Keating Ford	McLaren Elva Mark I Ford V8
	Sep 4	Indian Summer Trophy Races	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Heimrath Racing/Keating Ford	McLaren Elva Mark I Ford V8
	Sep 25	Canadian Grand Prix	Jim Hall	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Chaparral 2A Chevrolet
1966	June 5	Player's 200	Bruce McLaren	Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd.	McLaren Elva Mark IIB Ford
1967	June 3	BEMC Spring Trophy Races	Ross de St.-Croix	Eustache Soucy	McLaren Elva Mark II Chevrolet
	Oct 9	Wm. Cleland Memorial Trophy	John Cordts		McLaren Elva Mark III Chevrolet
1968	19 May	BARC Ontario Region Races	John Cordts		McLaren Elva Mark III Chevrolet
	Sep 7	BEMC Indian Summer Trophy Races	Roger McCaig	McCaig racing	McLaren M6B Chevrolet

^{[59][60][61][62]}

USAC Stock Car edit

Year	Date	Race Title	Driver	Team	Car
1962	June 23	Peterborough International	Rodger Ward		1962 Pontiac	[63]
1962	June 23	Peterborough International	Paul Goldsmith		1962 Pontiac Catalina	[64]
1966	July 30	Coca-Cola/Kawartha 250	Don White	Ray Nichels	1966 Dodge Charger	[65]
1966	July 30	Coca-Cola/Kawartha 250	Sam Tovella	Sal's Auto Sales	1965 Plymouth	[66]
1967	July 29	Bardahl/Kawartha 250	Mario Andretti	Holman Moody	1967 Ford	[67]
1967	July 29	Bardahl/Kawartha 250	Parnelli Jones	Holman Moody	1967 Ford Fairlane	[68]
1968	July 20	CHUM/Mosport 250	Roger McCluskey	Norm Nelson	1967 Plymouth	[69]
1968	July 20	CHUM/Mosport 250	Al Unser Sr.	R/A Hoerr Inc.	1968 Dodge Charger	[70]
1978	June 10	Molson Diamond USAC Stock Cars	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt	Chevrolet Camaro	[71]

SCCA Can-Am Series edit

SCCA Formula 5000 edit

Year	Race	Driver	Chassis	Engine
1968	Mosport Continental	Lou Sell	Eagle Mk 5	Chevrolet V8
1969	Mac's Mosport Continental	John Cannon	Eagle Mk 5	Chevrolet V8
1970	Mac's Mosport Continental	Mark Donohue	Lola T192	Chevrolet V8
1974	Labatt's Blue 5000 Weekend	David Hobbs	Lola T332	Chevrolet V8
1975	Labatt's Blue 5000 Weekend	Mario Andretti	Lola T332	Chevrolet V8
1976	Labatt's Blue 5000 Weekend	Alan Jones	Lola T332	Chevrolet V8

Atlantic Championship edit

Year	Date	Driver
1974	June 30	Bill Brack	[72]
1975	July 20	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	[73]
1976	Aug 22	Bobby Rahal	[74]
1977	22 May	Price Cobb	[75]
1979	Aug 19	Kevin Cogan	[76]
1981	June 13	Jacques Villeneuve	[77]
1982	June 5	Whitney Ganz	[78]
1982	Sep 12	Whitney Ganz	[78]
1983	Sep 11	Roberto Moreno	[79]
1987	June 7	Calvin Fish	[80]
1988	June 19	Colin Trueman	[81]
1989	June 25	Jocko Cunningham	[82]
1992	Sep 20	David Empringham	[83]
1993	June 20	Claude Bourbonnais	[84]
1994	22 May	Greg Ray	[85]
2009	Aug 30	Jonathan Summerton	[86]

Formula Super Vee Championship edit

Year	Date	Driver
1974	Sep 22	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	[87]
1975	Sep 21	Eddie Miller	[88]
1976	June 20	Bill Henderson	[89]
1977	Oct 9	Bob Lazier	[90]
1979	June 3	Geoff Brabham	[91]
1982	Sep 12	Michael Andretti	[92]
1983	June 5	Price Cobb	[93]

CASCAR Super Series edit

ASA National Tour edit

USAC National Sprint Car Series edit

Year	Date	Race	Driver
1989	Sep 17	USAC Canadian Sprint Car Nationals	Gary Fedewa
	Sep 17		Wayne Hammond	[94]

^[95][96]

Mosport has also been the venue of a number of concerts and music festivals such as:

• Strawberry Fields Festival, August 7–9, 1970
• Canada Jam, August 26, 1978
• Heatwave Festival, August 23, 1980
• Edenfest, July 12–14, 1996
• Boots and Hearts Music Festival, August 10–12, 2012, August 2–4, 2013, July 31 – August 3, 2014

• List of auto racing tracks in Canada

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

• Official Site
• Canadian Tire Motorsport Park race results at Racing-Reference
• Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Oval race results at Racing-Reference
• Kart Complex
• NASCAR Track Page
• Regional racing information
• Canadian Historic Grand Prix